In August 2024, the ATLAS telescope in South Africa discovered asteroid 2024 PT5, a ten-meter-wide space rock roughly the size of a school bus, according to Phys.org. Following its discovery, the small near-Earth object captured the attention of scientists worldwide due to its potential lunar origins.

The small near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 has been creating a buzz among researchers. Discovered last year with the help of a NASA-funded telescope, it is only about 33 feet across and does not pose any threat to Earth.

An asteroid that orbited near Earth for a few months as a mini-moon may be a chunk of the moon that was blasted off by an impact thousands of years ago.

PT5, a near-Earth object discovered last year, has captivated scientists with its potential lunar origins. Likely ejected into space after a massive impact on the Moon thousands of years ago, the asteroid’s orbit closely matches Earth’s.

New research suggests that Earth's recent mini-moon might have originated as part of our actual moon long, long ago.

Earth's temporary asteroid friend last year was a chunk of its real moon that had been blasted into space thousands of years ago, scientists find.

A small asteroid, referred to as Earth's temporary "mini-moon," could actually be a piece of the Moon that broke away thousands of years ago. The celestial object, called 2024 PT5, is about 10-meter wide and poses no threat of collision with Earth now or in the near future, thanks to its trajectory.